IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/agecon/v32y2005i2p167-179.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Stages and determinants of fertilizer use in semiarid African agriculture: the Niger experience

Author

Listed:
  • Tahirou Abdoulaye
  • John H. Sanders

Abstract

Fertilization is a stepwise decision in Niger. Survey data from a representative sample of 100 households were utilized with individual and joint estimation to evaluate the determinants of fertilizer use at its three different stages: manure alone and two different types of inorganic fertilizer application. The fertilizer price relative to the millet price was always a highly significant determinant of fertilizer adoption. Farmers' experience in seeing the results of fertilization in the field was a principal factor influencing the use of manure and of the micro‐fertilization. Other studies in semiarid regions have emphasized risk, liquidity, or fertilizer responsiveness under harsh conditions but the shift to the micro doses of inorganic fertilizer was statistically associated here with the demonstration trials and the price ratios (fertilizer/millet). A variable reflecting the millet price recovery approximately 6 months after harvest was the most important factor in the decision to raise further inorganic fertilizer use with side dressing. Policy implications were focused on the importance of demonstration trials and improvements in the economic conditions (millet–fertilizer price ratios).

Suggested Citation

  • Tahirou Abdoulaye & John H. Sanders, 2005. "Stages and determinants of fertilizer use in semiarid African agriculture: the Niger experience," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 32(2), pages 167-179, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:agecon:v:32:y:2005:i:2:p:167-179
    DOI: 10.1111/j.0169-5150.2005.00011.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0169-5150.2005.00011.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.0169-5150.2005.00011.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Abdoulaye, T. & Lowenberg-DeBoer, J., 2000. "Intensification of Sahelian farming systems: evidence from Niger," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 67-81, May.
    2. Yanggen, David & Kelly, Valerie A. & Reardon, Thomas & Naseem, Anwar, 1998. "Incentives for Fertilizer Use in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Empirical Evidence on Fertilizer Response and Profitability," Food Security International Development Working Papers 54677, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    3. Coulibaly, Ousmane & Vitale, Jeffrey D. & Sanders, John H., 1998. "Expected effects of devaluation on cereal production in the Sudanian Region of Mali," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 57(4), pages 489-503, August.
    4. Andre Croppenstesdt and Mulat Demeke, 1996. "Determinants of adoption and levels of demand for fertiliser for cereal growing farmers in Ethiopia," Economics Series Working Papers WPS/1996-03, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    5. Matlon, Peter J., 1990. "Improving Productivity in Sorghum and Pearl Millet in Semi-Arid Africa," Food Research Institute Studies, Stanford University, Food Research Institute, vol. 22(1), pages 1-44.
    6. repec:bla:econom:v:62:y:1995:i:246:p:213-34 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. McDonald, John F & Moffitt, Robert A, 1980. "The Uses of Tobit Analysis," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 62(2), pages 318-321, May.
    8. Christopher Barrett, 1996. "Urban bias in price risk: The geography of food price distributions in low‐income economies," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(6), pages 830-849.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Abdoulaye, Tahirou & Sanders, John H., 2005. "New Technologies, Marketing Strategies And Public Policy For Traditional Food Crops: Millet In Niger," Staff Papers 28670, Purdue University, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    2. Abdoulaye, Tahirou & Sanders, John H., 2006. "New technologies, marketing strategies and public policy for traditional food crops: Millet in Niger," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 90(1-3), pages 272-292, October.
    3. Abdoulaye, Tahirou & Sanders, John H., 2003. "Improving Marketing Strategies To Accelerate Technological Change For The Basic Cereal: The Niger Case," 2003 Annual meeting, July 27-30, Montreal, Canada 22207, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    4. Tahirou Abdoulaye & John Sanders, 2005. "New Technologies, Marketing Strategies and Public Policy for Traditional Food Crops: Millet in Niger," Working Papers 05-07, Purdue University, College of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    5. Vitale, Jeffrey D. & Lee, John G., 2005. "Land Degradation in the Sahel: An Application of Biophysical Modeling in the Optimal Control Setting," 2005 Annual meeting, July 24-27, Providence, RI 19494, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    6. Kelly, Valerie A., 2005. "Farmers' Demand for Fertilizer in Sub-Saharan Africa," Staff Paper Series 11612, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    7. Bernd Süssmuth, 2012. "The Econometric Analysis of Willingness to Pay for Intangibles with Experience Good Character," Chapters, in: Wolfgang Maennig & Andrew Zimbalist (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Mega Sporting Events, chapter 14, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Alston Lee J. & Mueller Bernardo, 2018. "Priests, Conflicts and Property Rights: the Impacts on Tenancy and Land Use in Brazil," Man and the Economy, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 1-26, June.
    9. Insik Min & Jong‐Ho Kim, 2003. "Modeling Credit Card Borrowing: A Comparison of Type I and Type II Tobit Approaches," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 70(1), pages 128-143, July.
    10. Smale, Melinda & Assima, Amidou & Kergna, Alpha & Thériault, Veronique & Weltzien, Eva, 2016. "Farm Family Effects Of Improved Sorghum Varieties In Mali: A Multivalued Treatment Approach," Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Research Papers 259076, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security (FSP).
    11. Thomas Bauer & Mathias Sinning, 2011. "The savings behavior of temporary and permanent migrants in Germany," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 421-449, April.
    12. Sheahan, Megan & Black, Roy & Jayne, T.S., 2013. "Are Kenyan farmers under-utilizing fertilizer? Implications for input intensification strategies and research," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 39-52.
    13. Kumar, Nagesh & Saqib, Mohammed, 1996. "Firm size, opportunities for adaptation and in-house R & D activity in developing countries: the case of Indian manufacturing," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 713-722, August.
    14. Sheahan, Megan & Black, Roy & Jayne, Thomas S., 2012. "Are Farmers Under-Utilizing Fertilizer? Evidence from Kenya," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 126739, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    15. Assima, Amidou & Smale, Melinda & Kergna, Alpha, 2016. "Impacts of improved sorghum varieties on farm families in Mali: A Multivalued Treatment Effects approach," 2016 Fifth International Conference, September 23-26, 2016, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 246962, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    16. Smale, Melinda & Kergna, Alpha O. & Assima, Amidou & Weltzien, Eva & Rattunde, Fred, 2014. "An Overview and Economic Assessment of Sorghum Improvement in Mali," Food Security International Development Working Papers 198186, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    17. Cox, Thomas L. & Briggs, Hugh, 1989. "Heteroscedastic Tobit Models: The Household Demand for Fresh Potatoes Revisited," Staff Papers 200482, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    18. Yen H. T. Nguyen & Tuyen Q. Tran & Dung T. Hoang & Thu M. T. Tran & Trung T. Nguyen, 2023. "Land quality, income, and poverty among rural households in the North Central Region, Vietnam," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(2), pages 150-172, June.
    19. Sanae Tashiro, 2009. "Differences in Food Preparation by Race and Ethnicity: Evidence from the American Time Use Survey," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 36(3), pages 161-180, December.
    20. Maria Luisa Mancusi & Andrea Vezzulli & Serena Frazzoni & Zeno Rotondi & Maurizio Sobrero, 2018. "Export and Innovation in Small and Medium Enterprises: The Role of Concentrated Bank Borrowing," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 85(337), pages 177-204, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:agecon:v:32:y:2005:i:2:p:167-179. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iaaeeea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.